Philip the Bard's Harappan blog: Life on Planet Harappa

Welcome proud readers. Thanks for being here.

This week, we’ll take a look at Harappan botany and biology.

Harappa was a planet full of life. It wasn’t all the kind of life we knew from Earth. Most of Harappa had a harsh environment. Too hot for humans. We only settled two small river valleys near the south pole. Then there was the Dark Times. every eighteen years the Blue Moon passed between planet Harappa and its sun blocking light from the world for almost two weeks. Most of the surface freezes and what life lives must either hibernate or go underground. So there are several impediments to complex life, yet some complex life did exist.

Lets start from the bottom and work our way up the evolutionary chain.

The most common life on planet Harappa was/is the algae in the world’s oceans. It was the algae that produced the oxygen that we breathed. It also became one of the best food sources on the planet. Every Harappa I know still eats the stuff, despite all of us occasionally complaining about the smelly goo. It is grown in indoor tanks on planet Kusha and we still eat the stuff, though I have never heard anyone tout its culinary delights. We eat it because it is nutritious and because it is something from home.

The algae was also used in building materials and other fabrication projects. We don’t use it for those kinds of uses here on Kusha since it is fairly hard to produce in captivity. What we make here on Kusha is used for cereal and energy bars. While it may be a tad swampy smelling and not have a great deal of flavor it is indeed quite nutritious. I don’t know any Earthers or Lavans who eat the stuff. In fact most Harappans call it “stuff’ or “goo”, not exactly endearing terms but we still eat the stuff.

Tomorrow: We work our way up the evolutionary chain.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Bubba the Science Fan's Friday Blog: Our Neolithic Ancestors

Welcome wonderful readers. Thanks for being here.

Typically I use my friday science blog to discuss something in the cosmic realm. The latest proof for the Big Bang or the latest new planetary discovery. But, today I’m going in another direction.

I love many realms of science and I also love history. At one time as a lad I wanted to grow up to be an archeologist. Then I got nervous about mummies’ curses. Give me a break, I was nine.

I have a theory about the Neolithic Era and new evidence has come to light that confirms my theory a little.

I believe that our Neolithic ancestors were a lot busier than we give them credit for. They didn’t write so we don’t have a written history for them. Much of what they did is lost to us. I believe they were traveling much more than many think. I do not think they had any advanced technology that we do not have. I do think they were quite clever and able to accomplish great things that some want to credit to magic or superpowers. Naw, just clever hard working people working together in groups.

Recently Graham Hancock has written about a new find of a large megalithic structure in the jungles of Indonesia. I know Hancock has many critics but some of his theories make sense. For example his theory about the rising ocean levels. He and I think that many of our Great Flood stories come from the ocean rising at the end of the last ice age. I think we will find more and more ancient cities buries off the coasts around the world. I think we will find more and more evidence that our ancient ancestors were traveling, trading and meeting each other much more than we currently think.

This new discovery along with Gobekli Tepe is the beginning of what I think will be many new discoveries that will eventually open the door to a better understanding ot Neolithic humans.

Never mix red wine with Oodo, but cider is fine.

Earth Year 2014

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Surviving on Planet Harappa

Welcome majestic readers. Thanks for being here.

Planet Harappa is dying. Those of us who grew up there are spending a lot of time recalling our days there. This week I’ll spend some time discussing the botany and biology of the world I was born on.

When Marcus Johnson and his original followers first arrived on Harappa the world was already occupied by a fairly diverse ecosystem. Not nearly as diverse as Kusha or Earth but there was an active biological process going on.

Plant life was fully evolved. Tree, bushes, flowers, grasses and such. The Harappan sun is a yellow sun like Earth’s so the plant life there was very Earth-like.

The animal life was just beginning its trip up the evolutionary chain. The Harappan climate was just settling down after a long period of intense change. Then there was the problem of the Dark Times. Every eighteen years the Blue Moon would block out the sun for almost two weeks freezing most of the surface of Harappa.

What animal life that did evolve there had evolved to go dormant or underground during the Dark Times. That made the evolutionary process a challenge. There weren’t many complex life forms on the surface.

Next week: Who lived on the land? Who lived in the sea?

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Finding Planet Harappa

Welcome great readers. Thanks for being here.

The death watch of planet Harappa continues. It is only a matter of months before my homeworld crumbles apart and falls into its sun.

My childhood footprints will disappear, the home I grew up in will become stardust. The places I roamed as a child will be no more.

Thinking about this got me a little melancholy. I’m going to miss the world when Harappa is gone. I haven’t lived there for almost ninety years but it is still my homeworld. It is still where I grew up, I have memories there.

So, I thought I should spend some time mentioning things from planet Harappa.

Today, lets look at how the world was when we humans first got there. When Marcus Johnson firs discovered Harappa from planet Earth there were questions about how comfortable the world would be. He certainly knew that the planet was warmer than Earth and that the orbit of the planet had an unexplainable wobble that was troubling.

We now know that the wobble was caused by the Blue Moon. When the Harvest Day Blast freed the Blue Moon from its gravitational dance with Harappa, Harappa started its death spiral towards its sun.

When Johnson and his two thousand followers landed they found a world that was inhabited by a variety of plants and animals, none of which had evolved to the point of establishing a culture beyond hunting packs. Today we might think about not settling on a planet like Harappa was because we follow the Fordian restrictions about settling new worlds. We don’t go there if there is any complex life. The definition of complex life is a complicated affair and outlined in detail on the EG (the Encyclopedia Galactica).

As it was we couldn’t go anywhere else. The Arc of the New Millennium, the ship that took humans from Earth to Harappa was a one shot affair. It was not able to start another flight.

We stayed, we worked, we grew. We found one small valley that was comfortable enough and settled there. We built towns and cities and made babies, lots of babies.

Tomorrow: Flora and Fauna of planet Harappa.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: Starting to miss Max Gavaskar

Welcome fine readers. Thanks for being here.

Last week was the Kushan Yam Festival here in Harappa City. It was fine time for all. People are heading home now and only the memories remain. Several shuttles left yesterday taking people to their respective starships.

The big disappointment was the fact that Max Gavaskar was unavailable. Her health is not good and she was unable to greet visitors. Many came here to planet Kusha just for that. There is a galaxy wide malaise about the demise of the beloved Max Gavaskar. That she was even unable to see people is a huge concern. There has been hope that modern medicine would come up with something for her. Alas, that seems not to be available for our little Max.

With the festival over and Max disappearing to her private compound Harappa City is a sad place today. 

Not that Max Gavaskar was ever a regular fixture in Harappa City. She was usually too busy to spend a lot of time in town. When she was on Kusha she was usually here to rest between diplomatic missions. She mostly stayed with her family and friends at the Gavaskar Compound. She would come to town and visit but it was usually a quick visit and then she would retire to her private compound. But, that was enough. It was enough for the people to know she was there. To know that Max Gavaskar, the Mother of the Galaxy, was among us was enough. It gave us hope and pride. When she makes the final journey we will be lost without her. LIfe will go on but there will be a gap in all our lives.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Philip the Bard's Harappan Blog: The end of the Festival

Welcome festive readers. Thanks for being here.

Whew! The Kushan Yam Festival is over. The prizes have been handed out. The cider and wine has been put back in the cellars and the musicians are putting their instruments away for the moment. Harappa City is calm and peaceful this morning.

The memories still linger. This week I’ll share some stories from the event. Some things I experienced and some that I heard of.

My personal experience of the event started with the opening ceremony. Me and the Gutterminds played for the opening and that got us involved right away. I enjoyed the event, we played well and after there were several folks wanting to buy us drinks.

I slept in the next day and that evening we played in a local tavern, the Bird in Hand. We were joined by a Loric guitarist and he was really hot. All I did the next day was take in a couple of Ball Games with my friend Dorian Thain.

The last day of the event, me and the Gutterminds played at a park. It was a lovely day, a lot of families gathered for a picnic. When that was over we all moved to the town square for the awards ceremonies. I didn’t win anything but then I guess you’d have to enter something to win.

Never mix red wine and Oodo.

Philip Normer

Kushan Year 88

Earth Year 2480

Bubba the Science Fan's Friday Blog: Debating Creationists

Welcome fine readers. Thanks for being here.

In my ongoing series of debates with creationists I have come to understand dogma. Firmly held dogma. Providing facts and links to scientific articles defending natural selection and evolution does no good. Asking questions that will not be answered does no good. 

Why do I do it?

My hope is that someday a fence sitter will read through one of my debates and be swayed to the scientific side of the argument. I don’t expect to convert my debate opponents. They have made it very clear that they have made up their minds. Usually they each have one comment they fall on to. Richard Dawkins or Lawrence Krauss quotes taken out of context appear often. Equating science with atheism happens a lot. We keep hearing the same bogus claims over and over. The scientists keep showing why the second law of thermodynamics does not disprove evolution and the creationists keep throwing it back in our face.

I have found one way to make them disappear. I ask them to offer some proof of their theory. Not an argument agains’t evolution but an argument for creation. They either come back with one more tired opposition to evolution or they disappear.

I don’t want to wreck anyones religion. What I want is for the religious to not try to take over the government to take away rights from those who do not support their particular beliefs and I don’t want their religion taught in the science classroom.

Simple.

Never mix red wine with Oodo, but cider is fine.

Earth Year 2014